Wind

It’s windy. Not just windy, very windy. Stupendously windy, fantastically windy, remarkably windy, and extra-ordinarily windy. It's so windy the tornados have gone vacationing to South America. It's so windy the hurricanes are jealous. Tempests envy the brute gale force of Nebraska.

When you are driving down the road and you open the window a crack, you know how loud the wind can be. Imagine that in reverse, you are standing still and the whole world is roaring past you at fifty miles per hour. Now imagine that going non-stop for three days. I wonder where all that wind can come from. There must be giant vacuums opening up in Mexico because all of their air is being sucked into Nebraska. Maybe it’s the other way around, maybe the vacuum is in Canada.

I tell people that I don’t know what they have done with the Nebraska that I left so many years ago, and they say it has always been this way. They are wrong. The Nebraska I remember was timeless and unmoving, not this rushing, howling lunacy. I fear that the men in the white coats will come soon to take this Nebraska away. Or maybe I desire it. So easily can you forget that the world can be still and quiet.

The wind roars like a lion and howls like a coyote. It whistles like a boiling tea-kettle and moans like a restless spirit. Trees creak, shingles flap, and barn doors crack like the first shot of hunting season. The power lines are a gospel choir ushering in doomsday. Neighbors shout to be heard over the tumult and they sound miles away. If they shouted at you from upwind, their voices would slap you in the face like an angry mother.

The wind thunders across the plains like a herd of startled buffalo. It gallops to and fro like unbroken horses, crossing the earth in great strides. It is swifter than deer and quicker than hares. It mocks the birds, shoving them aside thoughtlessly.

Outside we are buffeted by the wind; inside we are buffeted by the sound of the wind. The wind is an uproar; a cacophony of howling, moaning ghosts; God's own bellows unleashed. Wind like this could drive a person mad.

Patrick Swayze and Bette Midler never knew wind like this. Benjamin Franklin would have stayed indoors in such a gale. Winds this ferocious would have kept Odysseus at sea for another twenty years.

The wind is endless, tireless, pitiless, bottomless. It is inexhaustible, incomprehensible, inconceivable, and incredible. The wind is unending, unceasing, unyeilding, unrelenting. It is forever, eternal, constant and infinite.

Other than that, life is pretty good.

John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Journal - News, Weather, and Sports

Yesterday, I called my case worker, Cindy, at Health and Human Services with a few questions. First I asked about the new health bill and how that might effect the Medicaid program. She said there have been no changes. Apparently even though President Obama signed the bill, it’s till kind of up in the air as to what will happen. Also, most of the changes that are supposed to be implemented won't take effect until 2014.

Last week, when BCBS denied me they suggested something called CHIPS. I told them I never really liked that show very much. Just kidding, Chips is some kind of insurance program but I thought it was specifically for children. I asked Cindy about it and she said there are two programs called Chips. The one BCBS was talking about is actually handled by BCBS and it’s for people who can’t get insurance. The drawback is that it usually has very high premiums. I was kind of planning on that anyway so I guess I will look into that further and see what happens. Unfortunately, that means I have to contact my arch enemies, BCBS, again.

The third thing I asked about was Medicare. I had heard recently that when you become eligible for Medicare you have to pay a hundred dollars a month for it in the form of a deduction from your social security. That isn’t necessarily true, however. Any amount you have to pay for Medicare is based on your income. She said that my income is below the maximum so I won’t have to pay anything for it. I still have another year before I am eligible, though. I forgot to ask her if that is the same in every state.

Last Thursday, I filled out an application online to renew our food stamps since they are getting ready to run out. They don’t call it food stamps anymore. Now it’s called SNAP. Supplemental Nutritional Aid Program or something like that. Isn’t it funny how we always try to put fancy names on things? I guess the name “food stamps” is kind of outdated, though. These days they give you a debit card and each month they just deposit more credit to your account. We’re getting closer to that cashless society every day. Anyway, since I called Cindy yesterday, she went ahead and went over the application and asked what she needed to ask about that to finalize it. It was all so easy. I can’t help but think how much trouble I had with that same system in Dallas.

The weather is shaping up very nicely here in Nebraska. Our temps have been in the sixties and are starting to push into the seventies now. Unfortunately, spring in Nebraska means wind. I remember when we moved up here at the end of April last year. We had some pretty powerful wind storms in those first few weeks. Those were kind of scary but our house proved to be very strong. It isn’t insulated very well, but it's solid.

I was a little sad last night. If the Huskers had won their basketball game Sunday, they would have been playing Oklahoma last night. I was looking forward to that game, but instead Oklahoma played Kentucky. Oklahoma won, so the last four teams in the tournament are Oklahoma, Connecticut, Baylor, and Stanford. Connecticut is the clear favorite. They are the returning champions and have won every game for the last two years. Maybe Baylor will knock them off in the championship game.

Well, that’s all the updates I have for now. Until next time, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars. Bonus points to whoever can tell me where that phrase came from.

2 Chronicles 15:7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

Job 11:18 You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.